Category:Pelham Puppets

Pelham Puppets

Introduction

Pelham Puppets are a range of toys, typically string puppets (marionettes) but occasionally rod, glove and ventriloquist dolls, originally produced by Bob Pelham’s company from 1947 to 1986. Pelham were based out of Marlborough, Wiltshire where Bob Pelham had settled after the Second World War with the aim of producing children’s toys. For nearly 40 years Pelham produced thousands of puppets in many designs, shapes and styles which would go on to become some of the most prized and collectable toys in history.

History

Bob Pelham was called up to serve in the Royal Armed Forces in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout his time serving on active duty he became affectionately known as 'The Wonky Donkey Officer' due to his penchant of making small, wooden, animated donkey toys. It was his time spent throughout the conflict which influenced him to start a toy making company upon his return to Britain. After consulting Jan Bussell and Ann Hogarth (the operators of Muffin the Mule on the popular television programme) Bob set about designing puppets which would be simple enough for young children to operate and thus ---Wonky Toys Ltd--- was born; a nod to his wartime nick-name. The early operations consisted of just a few workers based in a small work shop and nearly all of the materials used in the production of the puppets were recycled, either taken from Bob's father's house or local scrap yards.

Toy Brands and Manufacturers
Pelham Puppets

In the first months of the company Bob struggled to convince toy retailers that puppets would be a popular item to stock and he received many rejections, usually due to the perceived complicated nature of marionettes. Not to be deterred, Bob continued producing and designing his puppets and it was during this period that one of the company's most recogniseable puppets was designed: Sandy MacBoozle. This puppet would be taken from store to store by Bob and used to show potential buyers that puppets were the next big thing in the toy market. MacBoozle would later go on to become one of the company's flagship puppets. Around the end of 1947 Bob struck gold when he approached Hamley's of Regent Street, London with his puppets and they agreed to let him demonstrate them from behind his own counter. They were an instant hit and Bob later recalled "By explaining how simple string puppets really were to work and showing a somewhat surprised audience their comical antics, the first puppets began to sell!".

After the launch of the puppets to a big name toy store, shops all over the country began placing orders and the following years proved to be extremely successful for the company. These simple puppets, made from recycled materials and packaged in a simple brown box (an example of one of these is available to see in cabinet 53) were so popular that by 1952, a mere five years later, the company was in need of much larger premises in order to keep up with the increased production. Pelham, whilst staying in Marlborough, moved it's offices and retail store to Elcot Lane and one year later purchased a three story factory on London Road, on the south bank of the River Kennet, which would go on the become the permanent home of Pelham until 1987, when the original company ceased trading.

The Pelham company went from strength to strength and at it's peak was producing thousands of puppets in a multitude of different colours, sizes, designs and sets (see below). One of the biggest achievements for Bob came in 1953 when the company won the rights to produce a set of Disney puppets (available to see in cabinet 56). This acquisition started a pattern of fighting for commercial rights to other brands and many sets followed including The Magic Roundabout, The Muppets, Peanuts and The Wombles. All of these successes however suffered a drastic set back when, in October 1961, the London Road factory caught fire and was nearly all destroyed. Stock, materials and documents were all lost but, not to be deterred, Bob and the rest of the company set about building a new factory on the same site, as quick as possible in order to catch up with the lost time.

The 70's proved to be the the busiest decade experienced by the company and rapid expansion was required in order to keep up with the now international demand. Pelham was exporting puppets to over 40 countries and in 1979 foreign demand was so high that every puppet produced in the first six months of the year was sent to the USA. However, despite the fact that business had never been better, it was from this time that Bob began to lose his enthusiasm due to the ever increasing commercial nature of his company; it had grown from a small office of close colleagues to an enterprise based across several premises producing at full speed, all day every day. Bob's troubles reached their worst during the 1980's when Pelham had to make several hundred loyal employees redundant due to the falling economy. After this period of decline for the factory tragedy struck when, in mid 1980, Bob died suddenly at his home. His wife Anne, who had also been a long term employee of the company and had played a huge part in it's success, continued to operate the company for the following 6 years until she reached the point of retirement and closed the original factory's doors for the final time.

Following the closure of the original Pelham factory and brand various companies tried, without much success, to bring back the former glory experienced in it's heyday. The rights to the name traded hands many times until it was finally purchase by once employee, and long time friend of Bob's, David Leech. This venture, although not on the same scale as the original factory, produces Pelham puppets to Bob's original designs and standards (as well as some new ones) and continues to be an ambassador for the brand.

Construction

Pelham Puppets varied greatly in the construction methods and materials used throughout the their history. In the early years Bob, as mentioned above, used mainly recycled materials found from a variety of courses as new materials were hard to come by in the post-war austerity. Army surplus parts were a common sight at first and these included wooden toggles, ammunition box partitions and even rubber respirator tubes. Puppet fabrics were often hand-dyed parachute material, and were sometimes taken from old fabric sample books and jumble sales. As business grew and the ability to find materials around the country improved, so did the quality of the puppets. Hand turned wooden heads, hands and arms were staples of production puppets up until the 1950's when, due to increased demand, a need for pre-made composite hands became apparent. Pre-constructed parts enabled a quick, assembly line process which greatly improved productivity. Because of this developmental change it is possible to estimate, roughly, in what period a certain puppet was made simply by looking at the construction style and materials used on the hands and legs. In cabinets 53, 54 and 56 there is a range of Pelham's to view which exhibit various construction materials and methods. As well as this there is also a range of boxes to view which can also be used to pinpoint when a puppet was produced.

SL Rupert the Bear

Throughout the history of the company various ranges of puppets were produced. The standard type of puppet which emerged from the early 1950's, and which continued to be produced until the closure, was the SS type (SS being an abbreviation for Standard Stringed Puppet). Below you can see a more in-depth description of each type, along with the name of an examples held here at the Museum.

SS Type: Standard Stringed Puppet, manufactured throughout the whole life time of the company. Many of these were generic stock characters like clowns, sailors and pirates and defined by their simple round heads. However there were occasional exceptions to this rule, for example Pinocchio and Alice from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In Cabinet 54 you can see an SS Pinocchio and Gypsy Girl.

SL Type: Standard Luxury Puppet, manufactured throughout the whole life time of the company. SL puppets are defined by their molded heads which had greater detail and visual appeal. Many of the first SL puppets were licensed characters however during the later years many characters which originally appeared in the SS line were also manufactured. In Cabinet 54 you can see an SL Rupert the Bear and an SL Wolf and Red Riding Hood (both among a group of fairytale characters which were commonly produced).

SL 63 Type: Standard Luxury Puppet, range first introduced in 1963. These puppets are defined by their specific designs by Peter Carter-Cage, an ex-Disney employee. The puppets were discontinued around 1966, despite their humorous designs, because of their lack of functionality making some of them collectable due to the small amount produced. You can see an example of an SL 63 Mother Dragon in Cabinet 54

SM Type: Standard Mouth or Moving Mouth, manufactured throughout the whole life time of the company. These puppets are defined by their moving mouth, a feature added to make them appear more realistic. They were also top sellers and very popular amongst customers. Bob Pelham's favourite puppet MacBoozle was an SM puppet. SM puppets were a mixture of stock and licensed characters and in Cabinet 56 you can see an SM Pirate and Witch, amongst others.